Saturday, April 26, 2014

Lorenzo Semple, Jr. had Robin the Boy Wonder utter this now
classic pair of lines, when the Batmobile took off on its first “14 Mile” trip to Gotham
City, in the pilot episode – and (one would imagine, via stock footage) often
thereafter.

“Atomic Batteries to Power!Turbines to Speed!”

“Roger!Ready to move
out!”, would come the grim reply from Batman!

The iconic scene from BATMAN '66 # 8 (2014)

But, did this ever take place in the original comic books?

I certainly haven’t read every Batman comic ever done, but I have read a fair number of them and would tend to
think not.However, this iconic scene
WAS recreated in the pages of BATMAN ’66, Issue # 8. A wonderful "tribute comic book" to the TV series

Now, I may never know if “Atomic Batteries to Power!Turbines to Speed!” was uttered in a
BATMAN comic book before BATMAN ’66 # 8… but I CAN say with absolute certainty
that it WAS part of the dialogue of another comic story.

Oddly, I didn’t know it at the time I was writing the script,
but this story dated back to that wonderful year of 1966, making it more
appropriate than even I realized for me to include that iconic bit from the
BATMAN 1966 TV series.

Bonus 1966 reference:In the same panel, my use of the word “Nucleonic” originates with the
1966 LOST IN SPACE episode “The Sky Pirate” – and my favorite line:

“Why don’t you just blast him with your Nucleonic Planet Buster?” says young Will Robinson to Space Pirate Alonzo P. Tucker.

After all this… My name might not be “Roger”, but I’m
clearly “Ready to move out!”.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Those who spend any appreciable time around here (…and I
thank you for doing so), will recall that fateful day in 2012 when New Comic
Books and I parted company.You
can read about it HERE – and, in particular, enjoy JoeCab’s initial comment,
that was responsible for one of my best laugh-out-loud moments in the nearly
six years of this Blog’s existence.

Steadfastly new-comic-less I remained, making an exception
only for the now-departed IDW POPEYE series.

But, sometimes things happen to derail even the most
resolute of… um, “resolutions”… Like commenter “Rusty” – in THIS POST – bringing
to my attention the KING TUT appearance in Issue # 8 of DC Comics’ new BATMAN
’66 series!

Tut-tut... It's Tut!

I actually picked-up the first three issues of BATMAN ’66 –
a comic book series that reflects the look and sensibilities of the 1966 Adam
West and Burt Ward television series – as a bagged set, at NEW YORK COMIC CON 2013, and figured on reading them eventually.

The First Issue of BATMAN '66

But, when Rusty’s comment linked to the Tut-Centric cover of
# 8, I KNEW I had to have that one (and begin reading the ones I had), because Victor Buono, as King Tut,
was my favorite villain created for the TV series – and Victor Buono has always
been one of my favorite “villain-actors” in general.

Live Action...

Animated...

...And, at long last - COMICS!

The issue does NOT let us down in its depiction of both
iconic TV series imagery – and its depiction of Buono’s Tut! (Click on images to enlarge)

And there’s a second story featuring Cliff Robertson’s
western-themed villain “Shame”! Just
look how great this stuff is! Makes you feel like a fanboy again!

And, even William Dozier's "Omniscient Yet Unseen Narrator" gets into the act! "OmYUN"? How's that for a catchy name?

So, on the cold and rainy Saturday afternoon of March 29,
2014, I journeyed to Manhattan to find BATMAN ’66 # 8 – and any of the other
ones I missed. Recalling that Jim Hanley’s Universe indulges
in the very welcome practice of leaving several months’ worth of back issues on
the racks at cover price, I headed there first, to round-up the outstanding
issues of BATMAN ’66 from # 4 - on.

Can we now call him "The Comic-Bookworm"?

While I was there, thought
to pick up the first issue of IDW’s ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE series, as it was
written by Mark Evanier.

I like THIS COVER better than the "standard" one.

Needless to
say, Evanier does not let us down, with the clever and delightful sort of PUNS that were
the TV series hallmark – and a wonderful gag concerning the two ubiquitous, event-observing
bystanders “Edgar and Chauncey”.

So, with a stack of copies of BATMAN ’66, and the lone issue
of ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE, I was ready to approach the checkout counter… AND THEN
I SPOTTED THIS!

As a courtesy to a fellow Blogger, I present this "Bat-Mite-a-riffic" (Yes, I actually SAID that!) sequence from that very issue: SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP # 3.

Funny, Bat-Mite never leaves comments on MY Blog!

And check out this priceless sequence from Issue # 1 where the
characters reference both THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES and BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND
THE BOLD!

There are three issues of SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP released to
date, each one offering a Batman-related team-up (#1Batman and Robin, # 2Ace the
Bat-Hound, and # 3Bat-Mite), but the friendly and helpful salesperson at Jim
Hanley’s Universe believed that future team-ups would include characters from
all over Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros., and DC Comics!

If so, I can’t wait for THIS team-up! THAT'LL make me a fanboy for sure!

"Hi, I'm Freakazoid! Wanna team-up?"

And, I’ll probably continue with these titles, for as long
as they last… darn it all! :-)

"When do I get MY OWN TITLE? Bat-Mite Team-Up! Awesome Sauce!"

"Ya know... Maybe teaming-up wasn't such a HOT IDEA. after all!"

Good night, Folks!

Yes, that last gag was from 1939's "Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur", directed by Chuck Jones! Extra points, if you got that!